Down to earth
Michelin-star chef Alain Ducasse speaks about educating the youth
‘Je continuer. I’m going to continue and progress if I can. Teach people. And to have these further exchanges with the men and women who grow their own produce, who farm, who fish.’
“In the span of 10 years, there’s been an incredible evolution of the local food scene,” Chef Alain Ducasse informs me during our one-on-one interview. “I can’t imagine 10 years ago that we would serve local cheese.”
DINNER WITH DUCASSE
Ducasse had spent part of his afternoon meeting the farmers who had provided the produce and ingredients for that evening’s P10,000-per-person fundraising dinner for the Tuloy Foundation—he sniffed, he tasted, he asked questions. Months ago, in a departure from the usual dinners that utilize imported luxury ingredients, he had approved a menu that would serve local ingredients—vegetables grown without chemicals, beef and fish sustainably raised and sourced, dairy products from happy, grass-fed cows.
So the guests, all of whom were no strangers to eating foie gras and caviar, started with a salad of micro cucumbers dressed with kesong puti and Greek yogurt from Pinkie’s Farm in Batangas. They ate a fish course of sustainably caught tuna from Meliomar, with a mélange of vegetables from Down to Earth, Shumei, and Sambali Beach Farm. The main course starred Kitayama wagyu beef from Bukidnon and adlai grains from Hinebalan Farms. Artisanal cheeses from Malagos in Davao had flavors that could hold their own against cheeses from Europe. And dessert was colorful with mango and passion fruit. “We just did it very simply,” Ducasse says. “All local. Simple and efficient.”
ALL LOCAL INGREDIENTS
Those two sentences summed it all up. It was a menu that reflected everything he stood for. It followed his philosophy of allowing the produce to shine, of working with the seasons, of being conscious of our responsibility to protect our natural resources. It gave a glimpse into the practical mind of a successful chef and restaurateur because the quality of a dish suffers when one serves a technically complicated menu to 270 diners—no matter how good the chefs are.
And there were a lot of chefs working the kitchen that night. Enderun is a college, after all, and chefinstructors, alumni, students, and past and present Tuloy Foundation scholars had volunteered. So many were on hand that hours before the dinner the venue was vibrating with energy as Ducasse, with his typical perfectionism and attention to detail, personally checked that all was in place.
That there were so many volunteers on hand speaks of the values instilled by Enderun, and of the generosity of spirit that is inherent in the nature of a chef. “It is an industry of sharing what you have with other people, so already the profession is built for sharing,” Ducasse says. This was his fourth visit to the Philippines since the Ducasse Institute Philippines, a partnership with Enderun Colleges and only the second outside of France, was established.
YOUTH WITH A FUTURE
The “Youth with a Future” project that was the reason for his visit aims to support and provide educational scholarships and job placements every year to a select group of former street children from Tuloy Foundation. Ducasse says of the partnership: “I wanted to give these young people, who have nothing, a chance to have work that they could be passionate about. Our industry is a great way for social ascendance, and this is the proof. All it takes is to share our knowledge with the most number of people that we can share it with.”
For Ducasse, what matters is being able to give the Tuloy scholars the opportunity to learn a craft and succeed at what they are doing. “If they have the talent, if they want to do it, they have the opportunity to cook in Paris without having to think about the expense,” he adds.
Ducasse believes in sharing his knowledge and skill, acknowledging that all the people he has worked with have helped him by sharing their own knowledge with him. Today, he gives back by doing the same.
“The exchange of ideas is a rich kind of education,” he explains. “It is a great pleasure for a chef to give to a young person, to see them grow, and become that chef later on. There is a lot of pleasure in seeing that happen.”
He shares that when he was the age of the Tuloy scholars he didn’t realize that the culinary profession could be so interesting for so many people. “Now I know that the table can be the center of exchange and harmony. Even if men and women don’t agree, at the table there is harmony and the exchange of ideas. That is a real illustration of what our industry is,” Ducasse adds.
THE CHEF WHO INSPIRES
He walks his talk by always making time during his visits to speak to Enderun’s students and faculty. He reminds them to work hard and to always strive for excellence. He shares his thoughts and philosophies with them. He inspires, I am told many times by the students and alumni I speak to before the dinner. He has also spent time privately (no media allowed) at Tuloy Foundation, where he encourages the young scholars not to limit their dreams.
It is difficult to reconcile the serious, slightly intimidating Ducasse with a halfsmile that I see in publicity photos, with the inspiring Ducasse that I hear about. But I think I am able to catch a glimpse during the interview. He seems more relaxed than his first visits, and more open with his answers. I even get a laugh out of him when I say that he is one of the greatest chefs of his time. What else is left to do? I ask him. “Je continuer,” he laughs. “I’m going to continue. I’m going to continue and progress if I can. Teach people. And share and continue to travel and try to understand others. And to have these further exchanges with the men and women who grow their own produce, who farm, who fish.” It’s a surprisingly down to earth answer.
He may have 21 Michelin stars, a restaurant empire, and culinary icon status, but I like knowing that to the Enderun students and Tuloy Foundation scholars he is the chef who inspired them. Shaira, one of the “Youth with a Future” scholars who now works in the Four Seasons in Dubai, sums it up thus: “In the future, tutulong ako sa mga katulad ko. Gusto kong tumulong (I will help those who were like me. I want to help).”
Email me at cbj2005@gmail.com.
All 30 past scholars from the Youth with a Future initiative have flourishing careers worldwide: one is working in the prestigious Ducasse Sur Seine, a river cruise and restaurant boat in Paris, France, seven are employed in Four Seasons Resort Dubai, three in an international shipping line, and 19 are placed in restaurants in the Philippines. The Harvest of Hope charity dinner held last Nov. 29 raised P7.5 million.
www.youthwithafuture.ph.